DJ, McIlroy and Day miss US Open cut

At the second major of the year, it was hard not to imagine the World’s best would be contending for the title on Sunday – but Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jason won’t even be there for the weekend. 

For the first time since the OWGR was introduced in 1986, all three of the World’s top players have missed the cut at the US Open. 

World No.1 and defending US Open champion Dustin Johnson overcame controversy on his way to victory last year, but two over-par rounds mean he has no chance of keeping his hands on the trophy for a second time.

Following an opening 76 DJ had a lot of work to do on Friday, and with a birdie-birdie start he looked to be heading in the right direction and back to within the projected cut line. 

He then dropped a shot on the ninth, and whilst he picked it up again with a birdie on the 12th, three more bogeys on 13, 14 and 17 ended his race to the title – finishing the tournament at four-over par and three shots off the cut line. 

“I hit the ball better than I did yesterday, I drove it very well and hit a lot of good iron shots, I just didn’t make any putts,” he said. 

“I birdied the first two holes, but those were tap-ins. I missed another one on four from about three feet, but I didn’t feel like I was hitting bad putts, I was just misreading them. I don’t know what else it was.

“It was a surprise as I really like this golf course. It sets up really well for me, especially if I’m driving it like I did today. I couldn’t possibly shoot any higher than I did, I just struggled on the greens. This game’s all about putting, so it’s pretty simple, I just didn’t get it in the hole fast enough.”

“I feel like the golf game’s there, I feel like I’m playing good. I’ve got four weeks off now which I’m looking forward to very much and I’ll work on the game a little bit and I’ll be ready to play at the British”

Rory McIlroy’s second round was arguably more frustrating than Dustin Johnson’s, as he birdied four of his last six holes at Erin Hills but still missed the cut by four shots at five-over-par.

The 28-year-old, who is a four-time major champion and won the US Open in 2011, was disappointed to make the cut but pleased to have finally had some competitive action.

McIlroy has already had two spells of absence from golf this year due to a recurring back injury, and similar to Johnson had imagined this type of golf course would have suited his game yet found his opening round to have made for irrepairable damage. 

“I hit the ball much better today, I think my driving stats probably show that. I hit some great shots coming in, I really could have birdied every hole on the way in there. It was much better today but I think it’s game time, it’s prep, it’s competitive rounds and I’ve been very light on those this year”

“It’s a bit frustrating because I’m like where was that golf yesterday but I know it’s in there and I know what I’m capable of it’s just a matter of producing it and getting myself in the right frame of mind to go out and play with that.”

“I’ve no real concerns. I felt this was a golf course that would really suit my game down to the ground but I shot myself in the foot yesterday and gave myself too much to do” 

Jason Day’s tournament was in his words, ‘frustrating’. He spent a lot of time in the much talked about fescue on both days, hitting just 15 out of 28 fairways and 20 out of 36 greens in regulation. 

His seven-over par 79 on day one saw him card two triple bogeys for the first time in his competitive career, and while he had four birdies a piece on each round – it was matched by far too many dropped shots.

Day began the day with a birdie but five bogeys and a double left him with a three-over 75 on Friday to end up tied 154th at 10-over-par.

“It’s pretty frustrating when I got here Friday, put a lot of work in — not a lot, but I tried to pace myself,” Day said.

“I did the work, looked at the golf course, made sure that I could actually play and visualize the golf course. And I felt the most calm I have in a major in a long time this week… Unfortunately this didn’t pan out.”

Henrik Stenson (+3), Jon Rahm (+5) and Alex Noren (+6) will all be packing their bags, despite Stenson holing one of the shots of the day for eagle during round 1.

Among the other notables who won’t be there for the weekend are last week’s champion Daniel Berger (+9) and major champions Bubba Watson (+4), Adam Scott (+3) and Jimmy Walker (+6).